Power Tunes Playback

Author's note: Digital technology's impact on photography and video
has changed the way we use these media. And thanks to MP3, Ogg Vorbis, and other compressed
encoding formats, we're seeing a similar revolution in the world of
music. Tools such as iTunes, QuickTime, and the iPod have become
facilitators for our personal entertainment. But recently, through my work
as a wedding photographer, I've noticed another evolution underway that
goes beyond listening to your iPod on the bus. The DJ's bulky music cart,
once brimming with hundreds of CDs and lots of hardware (that required a
van to lug around), seems to be shrinking in size, possibly down to the
size of a 1" thick PowerBook.

Here's a brief real life story from a recent wedding I worked,
followed by a technical conversation covering a few powerful playback
options you have available on your Mac OS X laptop. Included in this
discussion is the procedure for updating QuickTime 6.1 to playback and
encode Ogg Vorbis files, which are an open source alternative to
MP3s.

PowerBook in the Chapel

As I took my position with camera in hand and waited for the groom to
make his entrance, I noticed a couple of guys off in a corner pew peering
into an illuminated G4 PowerBook. You don't see TiBook-toting wedding
attendees every day, so I made a mental note to find out later what they
were up to. As the ceremony got underway, however, I became immersed in my
own problems of using existing light photography for the ring exchange,
forgetting all about my high tech comrades off in the corner.

TiBook-toting wedding attendees? It's not everyday I see someone
bring a PowerBook to a wedding. Needless to say, my curiosity was
piqued.

Fast forward to the reception. We gathered in a big Chinese restaurant
for post-ceremony festivities featuring 13 courses, including delicacies
such as pickled jellyfish, shark fin soup, and jumbo prawns. Music was
wafting though the air, intertwined with the din of conversation and
smells of deep fried seafood. As the party rolled into the evening hours,
the music got louder and dance floor more crowded.

The TiBook Reappears

At one point I looked over at the DJ table and recognized my techy
friends from the church. They had the TiBook plugged into a soundboard and
were using iTunes to serve up the music. As I looked closer, I saw an iPod
there too. Apparently when they wanted to crossfade from one song to the
next, they would use the soundboard and the iPod for the incoming track. I
was going to go over and study their setup more closely, but every time I
made an approach someone would toast, kiss, or pose for a spontaneous
group shot.

I've been to a lot of receptions over the years, and I always notice
the DJs. Often I have to work with them to coordinate the timing of the
evening's events. Other than the chance to grab a few bites from the
banquet table and do a little people watching, the music is my primary
source of entertainment. These two "DJs for a night" were doing a heck of
a good job--playing a variety of tunes, taking requests (and playing them
almost instantly thanks to iTunes powerful search function), and running
the show without ever breaking a sweat.

The PA system, apparently, was supplied by the restaurant. So when the
event was over, my two clever friends simply closed the lid on the
PowerBook, put the iPod in a pocket, and disappeared into the night,
probably to go listen to someone else play the music at a club.

There's More Than One Way to Spin a Disc

Afterward I started thinking about music on the Mac in a new way. I had
always thought of iTunes as more of a personal entertainment application,
but not so much for professional use, like big time event disc
jockeying. But my ears have been opened.

With a little research I discovered that there are a number of budget
DJ programs for Mac OS X, most of which are not very highly rated. But one
in particular, Tactile12000, is pretty
slick. It includes a virtual two-turntable console with a mixer so you can
crossfade, backspin, and even speed up and slow down the playback. And
best of all, it's free for the downloading.

Tactile12000 is a nifty free application that lets you load up two virtual turntables and crossfade between them. It's not fancy, but the results can be quite good.

Mac OS X provides you with a couple ways to spin your discs, so to
speak. You could build your playlists in iTunes and serve them up right
there in the application. If you want to build in an occasional crossfade
via an iPod (or another PowerBook), just get yourself a little mixing
board and you're in business. Or you could use iTunes to rip and organize
your music, but build the playlist and play the tunes with a DJ
application such as Tactile12000 that eliminates the need for a mixer
(since it's built into the app), allowing your Mac to control
everything. Simply connect to the PA system via the headphone jack and
you're in business. (You'll probably need a miniplug to standard plug
adapter for this. Be prepared.)